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Likability At The Workplace

The workplace can be a venue for employees with different personalities and traits trying to work together. The individual differences can affect the level of teamwork. It can also determine the overall working environment for everybody, for better or for worse. The likability factor in some ways is important to a harmonious workplace. It is the difference between being liked at the office or being avoided by your co-workers at all costs.

Are You Liked Or Hated?

Some co-workers may not care about either being liked or hated in the office. For some, just getting the job done and achieving goals are all they need. But it seems that the likeability factor also plays a significant role on how one may succeed in the workplace.

Likability Equals Success

A report coming from the Harvard Business School has tried to look into the issue regarding competence and likability and which one will employees and managers prefer to have at the workplace. It seems that most people would prefer likability in their co-workers more than performance or competence. Although it may be quite a common fact for some that competence always gets the better of likability, the study showed the opposite being true.

According to study results, overall preference tends to go to a person’s likability rather than competence and ability. Personal feelings seem to play an important role in developing working relationships way more than what was expected. Even managers seem to prefer some level of likability over competence.

Likability As Influential Factor

Personal feelings seem to become a more influential factor in the workplace. When a superior seems to strongly dislike someone, it usually does not matter whether he or she is competent for the job. Just by the fact that people simply don’t like to work with him or her may determine how he or she may generally be perceived.

On the other hand, with a not-so competent but quite a likable person, colleagues may seem to look out for what little bit of competence he or she has to offer and it gets highlighted more. Generally speaking, having a little bit of extra likability points seem to work better and goes a longer way than having a little bit more of extra competence when it comes to the workplace and establishing work relationships.

Tags: workplace advice